Wire-nail machine



-4 She'etsShet 1.

(Nd Model.)

G. w. McKIM. WIRE NAIL MAGHINB.

- Patented Nov. 20, 1888.

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'4 SheetsSheet 2 (No Model.)

G. W. MoKIM.

WIRE NAIL MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 20, 1888.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

(No Model.)

' G. W. McKIM.

' WIRE NAIL MACHINE. No. 393,254. Patented Nov. 20,1888

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4 Sheets-Sheet 4. G. W. MGKIM.

WIRENAIL MAGHINB.

Patented Nov. 20,1888.

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GEORGE WV. MOKIM, OF MARTINS FERRY, OHIO.

WIRE-NAIL MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,254, dated November 20, 1888.

Application filed January 13, 1888. Serial No. 260,648.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WV. MoKIM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Martins Ferry, in the county of Belmont, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vire-Nail-lVIaking Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make'and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in machines for manufacturing nails from wire, wherein one end is pointed and the other upset to form the head, and has for its object to simplify the construction of machines of this description, and to reduce the cost of manufacture; and with these ends in view my invention consists in the'details of construction and combination of parts, as will be hereinnfter fully described and claimed.

Heretofore the construction of machines for making wire nails involved the employment 't-he main features thereof, which form attach ments, are arranged to be applied to and adapted to the movements of the ordinary nail-plate-cutting machine now in general use with'but a slight rearrangement of the parts of the nail-plate machine.

Thus by my invention an ordinary nailplate-cutting machine may become an interchangeable one and be used either for making the ordinary cut nails or cutting and pointing wire nails.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved wire-nailmaking machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the machine taken through the dies. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4. is a de tail vertical section on line a: on, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the die-lever on the line 5 5, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the lower die-bed. Fig. 7 is a plan view (No model.)

of the feeder. Fig. 8 is a cross-section of the same on the line 8 8, Fig. 7. Fig. 9is acrosssection of the same on line 9 9, Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view of the yielding conductor. Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the same. Fig. 11 is a detail view of the leverstop or eccentric. Fig. 12is a detail perspective view of the lever-operating cam. Fig. 13 represents a view of the ordinary pointing and cutting dies now in use. Figs. 14 and 15 are views of my improved dies, and Fig. 16 is a view of a modification of the upper dies.

In the drawings, Arepresents the bed-frame of a nail-plate-cutting machine 'mounted on suitable legs, a. J ournaled in bearings 12 is a cutting-lever, B, which is connected with and is operated by the main drivingshaft.

C is the heading-lever, which is connected withthe cuttinglever B and is operated by the movement of said lever.

D is the gripping-lever, which is disposed below the lever B, the relation of the several parts described-viz., the levers B D and the heading-lever0being arranged substantially as in the ordinary nail-plate machine now in use.

I will proceed to describe first, generally, the arrangement of my devices, and then specifically point out their particular uses.

In arranging my devices to a nail-plate-cuting machine the bed-knife, moving knife, and the nipping devices are removed; but the gripping and heading devices are retained in their normal position. I then insert in the knifesockets of the cutting-lever B and the bed B the upper and lower vertical cutting-off and pointing dies for the wire nails. I then attach to the bed-plate of the machine and extending laterally therefrom the wire-feeding devices, all of whichi. 6., the dies andfeeding devices, (the heading and gripping devices being already in connection)are then connected to and operated by the main driving-shaft of the machine.

Having thus generally outlined the arrangement of my devices,l will now proceed to particularly describe each of them in detail.

As before stated, the moving knife is removed from its socket in the cutting-lever B and the upper cutting and pointing die,H,inserted in said socket. By reference to Figs. 5, 14, 15 the construction of. the die H will be seen.

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F is the die-holder,provided with a vertical groove, f. This holder F is secured to one side of the socket b by screws 2. Spacebloeks 3 are placed between the die-holder and vertical wall 4 of socket b, for a purpose as will be hereinafter specified. G is the cutting-off die,which isplaced in the groovefof the die-holder F, as shown. The die-holder F is also provided with a laterallyextending flange, f, as seen in Fig. 5.

H is the upper pointing-die, which is placed in front of and retains the cutting-off die in the groovef, said die I-I resting against the ilangef, as shown.

I is a holding-screw for holding the dies G and H in proper position, said screw passing through the wall 6 of the socket b.

g g are adjusting-screws for adjusting the dies G and H as required. It will be observed that the cutting-off die G- extends slightly below the plane of the pointing-die H to sufficiently lead the pointing-die that when said die shall have completed its function said outting-off die will have completely severed the wire. By arranging the cutting-off die in this manner it will completely sever the wire when the pointing-die shall have pointed the nail. This forms a very important part of my invention, inasmuch as heretofore in wire-naileutting machinery the cutting off of the wire to form a nail and the pointing of the same have not so far as I know been perfectly done at the same time and movement, but required a special movement of a supplemental cutting-off die or knife after the pointing-dies had done their work; but by my arrangement of the dies G, H, and L it will be seen that the cutting and pointi ng of the nail are done simultaneously and with but one movement of the dies and cutter.

L is the lower pointing-dic,whieh is set in a vertical groove, Z, cut in the bed-plate socket a. Set with the die is a spacing-block, l, as shown. It will be understood that the lower die is arranged in the same vertical plane with the upper die. The die L and space-blocks Z are secured to the bed-plate by means of the die-hook or L- shaped clip on, which is securely adjusted by means of the bar and nut m m.

M is a lug projecting from the under side of the bed-plate, and provided with a set-serew, N, by means of which the lower die, L, may be adjusted vertically to the desired height.

As before stated, the dies heretofore used in cutting and pointing wire nails have but imperfectly accomplished this result,because by cutting and pointing the nail at the same operation itis almost impossible to form the nail with a completed point.

By reference to Fig. 13, which shows aform of die commonly used in this class of machines, it will be seen that the pointing and cutting edges, although apparently converging at the chisel-point X, will at this point leave a small fiber of wire uncut, which necessitates the use of another cutter.

By reference to Figs. 14 and 15, which show views of my pointer-dies, it will be seen that the pointing-edges run off to a point and completely finish the nail in this respect, as in operation the cutting-off die G, which operates slightly in advance of the pointing-dies, has entirely severed the nail, said pointing and cutting, however, being done at one movement of the dies. The pointing-dies are pro vided with abutting surfaces 50 on a horizon tal plane with their cutting-edges 51, which surfaces prevent undue wear on the cuttingedges. The cutting-off die G is formed with a V-shaped cutting-edge, which, while cutting off the wire tends to hold it in the proper alignment in relation to the pointing-dies, for should the wire tend to slightly bend out of proper alignment the V-shaped ends of the cutter-die G would tend to bring the same toward its apex, which is always set in proper alignment with the pointing-dies.

J represents the fixed gripping-die and J the movable gripping-die. The gripping-(lie J is secured in the bed-plate socket, as will be presently described.

K is a guard-finger placed in the bed-plate socket c and adjacent to and parallel with the fixed grippcrdic. Space-blocks or liners k are placed between the guardfinger-gl'ipping die and side wall, 7;", of the socket c, by which and the set-screws la la the gripper J and guard K may be securely fastened in said socket.

K are adj ustingserews, which adjust the guard and gripper-die longitudinally to a proper relation with the cutting and pointing dies. It will be understood that the set-screws for adjusting and securing the dies J and arm K are the same screws used for adjusting the bed-knife and gripping-die in the ordinary naiIpIate-cutting machine.

Secured in the socket b of the lever head or jaw B is a pressing-finger, N, the function of which and the guard-arm K, I will now proceed to explain.

As previously mentioned, the euttingdie G has its cutting-face so arranged as to tend to always keep the wire in the proper alignment with the pointing-dies. It has been found, however, in practice that when the cutting and pointing dies operate on the wire, which is done after the header has headed the nail and the gripping-dies released the hold on the wire, the end or nail part of the wire will tend to throw or jump upward or outward from its desired position. To overcome this objection, I have arranged the guard-finger K, which, by reference to Fig. 3, it will be noticed is formed with an undercut groove, .9, and an overlapping finger, 8. Thus the guard tends not only to guide the end of wire to the grippers, but effectually prevents any upward throw of the wire when acted on by the cutting and pointing dies. The presser-finger N is so arranged that when the cutting-lever which carries the upper dies is on its downward or cutting thrust the end a of the pressing-finger Will come down on the inside of the wire-21 6.,

the side opposite the fixed gripper-die J-and securely press the wire against the face of said die J, thus effectually preventing any side movement of the wire. This pressing-lever is so arranged that it will operate to press on said wire just in advance of the dies and cutter, as will be understood from the drawings. The space-blocks or liners 3 and L, which are placed adjacent to the cutting and pointing dies, may be of varied sizes, and are used to set the dies to cut nails of diifcrent lengths.

The movable gripper-die J and the heading-levers T being arranged the same as in the nail-plate cutting machines now in use, a further description of them will not be neces sary.

0 represents the feeding device. (Shown in detail in Fig. 7.) The feeder 0 extends laterally from the bed of the machine, and is adjustably secured to a bracket, 0, on the machine-bed. This bracket is secured to the bed of the machine, and is adapted to vertical adjustment by means of the set-screw 0 and slot 0', as shown. The feeder O is secured to the bracket 0 by the screw 0 passing through transverse elongated slot 0 in the base Oof the feeder 0. By this arrangement it will be seen that the feeder 0 may be readily adjusted to a proper position either vertically or transversely, so as to bring the wire in a perfectly horizontal plane to the cutting and pointing dies. The feeder consists of straighteningrolls, the feed-carriage, and the flexible conductor. The flexible conductor U consists of a base, a, a funnel-shaped tube or mouth, a, and an extension or shaft, if. The shaft 10 is pivoted in a bearing, 8, on the base 0 of the feeder 0. By reference to Fig. 10 it will be seen that the tube or mouth a is formed with longitudinal opening a, diamond-shaped in cross-section. This tube is formed of two parts, 10 11. The part 11 forming a cap piece or cover, packing or liners 12 are placed between the cap-piece 11 and the part 10, by the insertion of which blocks the opening in the conductor may be increased for larger-sized wires. The cap-piece 11 is secured by screws 13, as shown. The shaft it forms a rock-shaft,which allows the conductor U a slight oscillatory motion, the necessity of which will be explained farther on.

V represents the feed'carriage, which travels on ways 2; 1; and is provided with the clamp jug-pawl w, which clamps the wire when fed. The pawl is spring-actuated, and is held in operative contact with the wire by the spring 10. This pawl is also provided with a cam or eccentric projection, 30, by which it can be held out of operation when desired, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

W represents the straightening-rolls,which are composed of the lower fixed grooved rollers, IV, and the upper movable rollers, W

The wire, when it leaves the spool Z, passes through the guide 2, and thence to the rollers WV. To straighten the wire when it leaves the roll, it is necessary to have the roller W adjustably arranged to apply the proper pressure to straighten the wire. To this end I arrange the top rollers, W, to be adjusted downwardly by means of a set-screw, 31, and the rollers resume their normal or upper position by being forced back by the springs 10. A scale is arranged on the upper movable bearing and the standard 10, by means of which the proper pressure may be set for wires of different thicknesses.

The flexible conductor or mouth-piece, as before stated, is made to oscillate. This movement of the conductor is necessary for the following reasons: The wire which is carried through this conductor to the dies and cutter, when acted upon by the cuttingoff die, is depressed to a degree equal to the thickness of the wire; hence where there is no device to bring the wire back to its normal position the said wire would soon become out of the proper alignment and come in contact with the lower pointing-die and obstruct the feed. The conductor U is brought back to its normal position by action of the spring 15, and its upward movementis" limited to the required degree by the set-screw 16.

Upon the bed-frame of the machine is secured a post, h, upon which I secure the lever 17 for operating the feed-carriage. This lever is pivoted at 18, and is provided with a short arm, 19, and long arm 20. 21 is a connectinglink which connects the lever 17 to the feedcarriage, as shown. Upon the post it, I pivot an eccentric or stop-lever, It, provided with a hand-hold, It. By turning this lever, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 11, the short arm 19 of the feed-lever 17 will be held from contact with the cam 24, and thereby stop the operation of said lever.

Upon the main drive-shaft 22 of the machine I mount a collar or disk, 23, upon which is secured the adjustable cam 24. The disk 23 is adjustably secured to the drive-shaft by a set-screw 40. This adjustment allows the disk to be properly set in relation to the operation of the movement of the dies, so that the feed and die movements may be set in proper relation to each other. The operation of the lever 17 is as follows: The cam, having been properly set for a certain length feed of wire, is driven by the drive-shaft, and in its course operates on the short arm 19 of the lever to throw the same in the direction shown by the arrow, and when the cam has passed the lever the lever is thrown back by the spring 25. The cam is adjustably secured on the disk 23 by set-screw 26 passing through the slot 27. By adjusting this cam a longer or shorter feed of the wire may be obtained for different-sized nails when required.

the conductor when the two sections are sccured together.

By forming the opening a" in this manner the same may be so adjusted as to always embrace the different sizes of wire when fed through the same in such a way that unnecessary play of the wire is prevented. This adjustment will be readily understood by refercues to the drawings.

I have shown and described upper cuttingoff and pointing dies as two distinct dies. Manifestly there need be but a single die, with the cutting-off portion arranged as shown by detail in Fig. 16. It is preferred, however, to use two distinct dies, as the adjustment of the cutting-die may be more readily accomplished.

By arranging the dies as shown and described it will readily appear that the action of the upper movable dies upon the lower stationary die will be in the manner of first cutting or shearing the wire, which will precede the pointing-dies, and that by this arrangement and operation of the dies the wire will be positively out offand pointed at each movement of the dies.

The operation of the cutting-off die, as before stated, precedes the operation of the pointingdies; but by the arrangement of the cutting-off die to the pointingdies, as described, the wire is but partially severed when the pointing-dies begin their cutting, but before they complete their work the wire will have been completely out.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The attachments having all been properly placed upon the machine, the end of the wire is passed from the spool through the straightening-rollers and passed through the flexible tube or conductor and is gripped by the pawl on the feed-carriage. The power-shaft now being set in motion feeds the wire forward the length of the nail to be made. The gripper-dies J and J then grip the wire. The header then forms the head. The grippers then release their hold, a head having now been formed on the end of the wire, the cutting-jaw follows on in its downward thrust, the pressing-finger and guard holding the wire in true line. The cutting die begins to cut the wire, and the upper pointingdie follows to com plete the point, and when the upper and lower dies meet, the nail will have been completely cut off and pointed, and when the dies open it falls onto a chute and discharges into a reccp taclc a finished wire nail.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim is- 1. In a machine for making wire nails, the

combination, with the movable cutting-lever B and the fixed die-bed B, of the upper pointing and cutting die and the lower pointing-die, said upper and lower dies being adapted to vertical and lateral adjustment, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a machine for making wire nails, the combination, with the movable cutting-lever B and the fixed die-bed B of the upper and lower cutting and pointing dies, the upper die having its cutting-edge arranged in advance of its pointing-edges, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a nail-making machine, the combination,with the movable cutting-lever B and bed B, said lever B and bed B being provided with die-sockets b and c, of the upper cutting and pointing die and the lower pointing-die, said dies arranged to be detachably and adjustably connected to said lever and bed, and means for securing such adjustments, substantially as shown.

4. In a nail-making machine, the combination, with the movable cutting-lever B, provided with adie-socket, b,of the die-holder F, connected to the socket b, (said holder F adapted to hold the upper cutting and pointing dies,) and the screw I for securing the dieholdcr in the lever-socket b, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a machine for making wire nails, the combination, with the movable lever B, provided with the die-socket b, of the upper pointing-die, F, and the cutting-die G, said cuttingdie having its cutting-edge projecting in advance and preceding the pointing-edges of the die E, substantially as shown.

6. In a machine for making wire nails, the upper and lower pointing-dies E, and L, and the cutting-off die G, having a V-shaped cutting-edge, said edge arranged to operate in advance of the upper pointing-die, substantially as shown and described.

7. In a nail-making machine, the combination, with the movable cutting-lever B, bed B, gripping-lever J, and heading-lever G, of the dies E G L and the space-blocks or lovers 3, substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. In a nail making machine, the combina' tion, with the bed B, having a groove, Z, for the die L, of the L-shaped clip m and the securing-nut and bar m m arranged to secure said die L to the bed-plate, as shown.

9. In a nail'making machine, the combination, with the bed B and the fixed gripper-die J, mounted thereon,of the movable lever Band the pressing-finger N, secured thereto, sub stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

10. In a machine for making nails, the com biuation, with the movable lever B, bed B, heading-lever C, gripping-lever D, and gripping-dies J J, of the detachably-connected dies E G L, guard-finger K, and pressing-finger N, all arranged to operate substantially as shown and described.

11. In a machine for making wire nails, the feeder 0, having a yielding conductor or mouth-piece, U, for the purpose shown and described.

12. In a machine for making wire nails, the feeder 0, having a yielding conductor, U, said conductor formed of two sections, 11, each provided with a V-shaped longitudinal groove, u, said sections arranged to be adj ustably secured together and provided with packing blocks 12 for increasing the diameter of the longitudinal opening, as and for the purpose described.

13. In a wire-nail-making machine, the feeder 0, having the yielding conductor U, said conductor arranged to oscillate 011 the shaft 10 the spring 15, and the adj usting-serew 16, all arranged to operate as shown and de scribed.

14. In a wire-nail-making machine, the combination, in the feeder O, of the straightening-rollers W, feed-carriage V, having the clampingpawl m, and the yielding conductor U, arranged as and for the purpose described.

15. In a machine for making wire nails, the combination, with the feeder 0, having the feed-carriage V, of the lever 17, connectinglink 21, the cam on drive-shaft for operating said lever 17 and the cam or eccentric 7L2, as and for the purpose described.

16. In a machine for making wire nails, the combination, with the feeder O, feed-carriage V, and lever 17, of the cam 24, adjustably arranged on the drive-shaft 22 and adapted to increase or diminish the feed capacity of carriage V by means of the adjusting-screw 26 and slot 27, substantially as shown and described.

17. In a machine for making wire nails, the combination of the straightening-rollers XV, composed of the lower fixed roller, W, and the upper vertically-adj ustable rollers V set-= screw 31, and springs w, with the feed-carriage V, substantially as shown and described.

18. In a machine for making wire nails, the combination, with the movable lever B, bed B, heading-lever O, gripper-lever D, and gripping-dies J J, operated by drive-shaft 22, of the detaehably-connected upper and lower cutting and pointing dies, the pressing-finger N, guardfinger K, the feeder O, detachably and adj ustably secured to the bed of the machine, the feed-carriage V, having the clamping-pawl W, the lever 17, connecting-link 21, and the cam 23, operated by the drive-shaft 22, substantially as shown and described.

19. In a nail-making machine, the combination, with the drive-shaft 22, of the disk 23, adjustably secured to said shaft 22 and having a cam, 24, secured thereto, said shaft having means for operating the upper movable lever and gripping-lever, said disk 23 adapted to transverse adjustment on shaft 22, by means of which and the cam 24 feeding devices may be arranged to operate in the proper conjunction with the cutting-head, gripping-dies, and the header, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE \V. MCKIM.

Witnesses:

FRED G. DIETERIOH, JoHN N. WALKER. 

